So You Want a Baby Genius...

Being the runt of my friend group as well as the nerdiest of the bunch, a slew of nicknames has fallen upon me throughout college a favorite being: fetus genius. As hilarious as the term seems a new study has hit news media recently that could make the term a little bit more realistic. The New York Times reported on November 20, 2013 that a mother’s exercise might actually boost fetal development of their child’s brain. 

Studies concerning the effect of exercise on cognition have been done and continue to be done on people and animals of all ages. In his neuroscience talk at Loyola University Chicago, neuroscientist Art Kramer explained to students some of the studies his lab has done that have shown the benefits exercise has on cognition of both adults and children. Kramer explained that in animal as well as human studies there have been clear connections drawn between exercise and cognition. Exercise positively impacts functional connectivity as well as executive function of the brain. Fitness interventions show increased brain volume, increased neurogenesis of the hippocampus and increased white matter integrity.  In children, relational memory is impacted by activity level and high fit kids show much better multi-tasking abilities than low fit kids. Kramer assured us that there doesn’t seem to be a point of no return when it comes to exercise benefits on cognition; even older adults with Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease who have not been physically active in the past can benefit cognitively from exercise.  

While Kramer explained there doesn’t seem to be an upper limit, this new study seems to answer whether there are lower limits on how early these cognitive effects due to exercise begin to take place. Studies have been conducted on new born children of mothers that completed at least three, twenty minute work outs a week showed higher brain activity in response to novel sounds than children born to mothers that did not exercise. The researchers hypothesize that the same chemicals that impact the adult’s cognitive function due to exercise travel to the fetus as well and have a similar impact on the brain. 

The studies done thus far have only begun to scratch the surface of the outcome of pregnant mothers that exercise. More research needs to be conducted to determine the long term effects of this exercise on their children. However, as of now it is clear that just an hour of exercise a week can impact the cognitive development of a fetus. It seems you can never start too early and there’s no such thing as too late.

Resources:

Reynolds, Gretchen. "Mother’s Exercise May Boost Baby’s Brain." Well Mothers Exercise May Boost Babys Brain Comments. N.p., 11 Nov. 2013. Web. 14 Dec. 2013. <http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/11/20/mothers-exercise-may-boost-babys-brain/?_r=1>.

Kramer, Art. "Physical Activity and Exercise Effects on the Brain and Cognition." Illinois, Chicago. 20 Nov. 2013. Lecture.